TALKING WITH SELLDORF ARCHITECTS – ANNABELLE SELLDORF

The question we would all love to have the answer to is “where is the next hot neighborhood?” And, of course, I always hear my clients complaints that, “if only I had bought that site in Soho…or Tribeca… or the UWS… or Harlem… or Lower 5th… or the East Village…(you get the idea) before it got hot”. Over the past 15 years I have witnessed Manhattan’s luxury market shrink from many segmented luxury neighborhoods into almost one large luxury neighborhood. The Upper West Side has expanded to Midtown (thanks in large part to the Time Warner buildings). The delineation between Midtown and the Village (East and West) has been smudged, and everyone is watching to see how much luxury residential property can be absorbed in The Financial District. (I’ll discuss more of that in a future SO interview.)

What makes a neighborhood change? Something defining: a new Landmark… a slow expansion of a good neighborhood into a lesser neighborhood… a huge investment by a city agency… a new park… a change in zoning!

West Chelsea has a number of these elements.

In June, 2005, the City Council approved the Department of City Planning’s proposals for a zoning amendment affecting the West Chelsea area. This affected West 16th St to 30th St between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues. The Special West Chelsea District was created and provided opportunities for new residential and commercial development. Some of which is well underway. The high line park has started construction, after much deliberation, and will create a magnificent linear open park on the previous elevated rail line.

The bad news for a developer is… most of the developable land is already taken (Add West Chelsea to your list of complaints about where you should have bought.)

The good news for a condo buyer is… the neighborhood is in its infancy and is neighbored by prime Chelsea, the trendy meatpacking District, the Hudson River, and the High Line Park. Some of the most renowned architects in the world have started to help West Chelsea emerge as one of Manhattan’s most promising and desirable residential neighborhoods.

I was fortunate to talk with two of them: Annabelle Selldorf and Sara Lopergolo of Selldorf Architects.

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